Foster care may see upheaval over same-sex unions

Less than two weeks old, the new law allowing same-sex unions is shaping into a dark cloud over hundreds of children in Illinois' foster care system.

Pam Adams

Less than two weeks old, the new law allowing same-sex unions is shaping into a dark cloud over hundreds of children in Illinois' foster care system.

Catholic Charities in the Peoria, Springfield and Joliet dioceses filed suit against the state of Illinois on Tuesday, seeking injunctions and an opinion that would allow them to legally refuse state-funded foster care and adoption services to unmarried couples, including couples in civil unions which took effect June 1.

Rather, the agencies want to continue a long-standing practice of referring such couples to other agencies that do not have similar religious prohibitions against unmarried, cohabiting couples.

The court filing indicates the agencies felt threatened in March when Attorney General Lisa Madigan's office asked them for an array of documents related to licensing practices and the concerns about the potential discrimination.

The March letter, from the civil rights division of the attorney general's office, states that the office "received notice that Catholic Charities . . . discriminates against Illinois citizens based on race, marital status and sexual orientation . . ." The lawsuit asks for an injunction to prevent further action by government officials.

Officials on both sides of the issue say they are willing to meet.

"We'd still welcome any meeting with the attorney general's office to work on a negotiated settlement," said Anthony Riordan, chief operating officer of Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Peoria.

However, according to a spokeswoman for the attorney general's office, initial attempts to set up a meeting never happened before attorneys for the Thomas More Society, an anti-abortion, not-for-profit law center, filed the suit in Sangamon County on behalf of the three agencies.

Court papers also rely, in part, on state Sen. Dave Koehler's statements during floor debate leading up to the civil union bill's passage to show the law was not intended to force any group to go against their religious principles. Koehler, D-Peoria, who sponsored the bill, later sponsored an amendment that would have exempted faith-based agencies.

That amendment and a similar amendment in the House failed. Gov. Pat Quinn also has said publicly that he is not interested in creating an exception to the rule for Catholic Charities or other faith-based agencies.

If the state or the courts don't go along with the efforts of the Catholic Charities agencies - or if the faith-based agencies don't change their religious objections - the results could be devastating.

"I think people are totally underestimating the upheaval this could cause," Riordan said.

Cases of some 3,000 children downstate, including about 300 in the city of Peoria, and $34 million in state contracts are at stake. The children's cases could be transferred to other agencies. They'd have to get new caseworkers, new case work aides, and new therapists.